Hello people

I am now in Australia (Cairns) I arrived here on Friday from Singapore. It was really weird leaving Asia after so long. I have certainly got the Asia 'bug' as the call it and will certainly be going back as soon as i can.

As i said i arrived in OZ on friday after visiting Indonesia (Jakarta) and then Bali. I had an incredible time in both places. Jakarta was a very interesting place, even if the traffic annoyed me a bit. We met Lila (Auntie) and the kids when we arrived in Jakarta. It really couldn't be move different from Singapore, the security is everywhere, your bags are scanned going into every building. It really is very weird if your not used to it. I found out why all the security is necessary after a few days in Jakarta 2 bombs went off at the JW Marriott and the Ritz Carlton, the two hotels are not far from were we stayed. It was a little bit close for comfort. At the time we were at the airport waiting to fly to Bali which was lucky.

Bali was different from Jakarta, it was beautiful but expensive. I certainly want to go back because i was only there 2 days. Even though it was only a short trip i had a really good time, the beaches and the waves were amazing. Jamie, Moray and i had a great time tackling the waves! I had a few wipe outs along the way and swallowed a bit of nice sea water but came out uninjured.

I am going to miss Singapore and the 5 star treatment! Thanks for everything you lot. I am now officially a poor backpacker but OZ is brilliant. Since i have been here we have gone to the Great Barrier Reef and done a 14,000ft skydive oh yeh!!!!! I loved both but the sky diving was off the charts. I will defiantly be doing it again. Anyway we (Kay, Sophie, Alison and I) are off to Magnetic Island for a 2 day trip tomorrow which should be good.

I hope everyone is well on the other side of the world.

Alistair x